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Photographed in Roundstone, Connemara, a spectacular new campaign stars Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Celia Holman Lee, Max Hart, Travy, KhakiKid, Lauren Whelan, Marwa Noelle Ali and Ivana Miličević.
Against the extraordinary Atlantic scenery of Roundstone, Connemara, eight leading figures drawn from Irish film, music, fashion, sport and culture come together for Coming Home: An Island in Motion, the stunning 2026 campaign just revealed by Ireland Fashion Week powered by Visa.
On 18 September the campaign went live, as the Ireland Fashion Week 2026 hero image was projected at large scale onto the Convention Centre, with a city-wide OOH initiative rolling out afterwards across 85 Dublin locations.
The creative project, shot by internationally acclaimed Irish photographer Damian Foxe, begins the countdown to Ireland Fashion Week, back next week from 7 to 12 October 2026 with eight shows, more than 90 designers and a programme that takes in established names, emerging talent, graduates and the broader Irish creative community.
Fronting the launch are actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell; racing driver Max Hart; Irish fashion icon Celia Holman Lee; Ireland Fashion Week Model of the Year Marwa Noelle Ali; musicians Travy and Abdu Huss, known as KhakiKid; digital creator Lauren Whelan; and actor and model Ivana Miličević.
As a group, the cast mirrors the countless ways in which Ireland is lived today. Generations, countries and cultures are all crossed by their stories, yet a shared sense of home and a hand in shaping contemporary Irish life links every one of them.
Casting and producing the campaign were central to the work of Ashley McDonnell, Founder of Ireland Fashion Week, who commented: “Coming Home: An Island in Motion is a celebration of Irish creativity in all its forms. We have brought together an extraordinary cast spanning fashion, film, music, sport and culture, dressed in Irish design and photographed against the breathtaking landscape of Roundstone.”
“We wanted this to feel both familiar and unexpected. To capture the Ireland we know and love while showing the confidence, diversity and creative energy shaping the country today. Each person involved brings their own story and interpretation of home, but together they represent an Ireland that is proud of its roots and excited about its future.
Continuing, she said: “Ireland Fashion Week is ultimately about celebrating the remarkable talent we have here and giving people across the country the opportunity to discover, support and take pride in Irish fashion.”
A striking fashion landscape was made of Roundstone’s streets, shoreline and working harbour for the shoot. Weathered buildings, traditional boat workshops and the dramatic coastline of Connemara form the backdrop for pictures that read as familiar and unexpected at the same time, placing the raw character of the west of Ireland beside the ambition and polish of an international fashion editorial.
On her role in the project and in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell commented: “Fashion has always been a brilliant form of self-expression for me. It can say so much about who you are, where you come from and how you want to present yourself to the world. Ireland is full of fearless, imaginative creatives who deserve to be seen on an international stage.
Her comments continued: “Being part of this campaign feels incredibly special. The landscape in Connemara is unmistakably Irish, but the fashion and creative direction show a country that is constantly evolving and redefining itself. I’m genuinely proud to help launch it.”
Internationally respected Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer, whose progressive thinking on inclusivity, representation and innovative pattern-cutting is reshaping contemporary luxury, takes the spotlight at this year’s Ireland Fashion Week City Hall show. The Zalando Visionary Award and British Fashion Council NEWGEN support have both gone to her, and she reached the semi-finals of the 2025 LVMH Prize. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute currently holds two of her designs. Celebrated for how progressively she approaches inclusivity and representation, O’Dwyer is rewriting contemporary luxury via innovative pattern-cutting and a far more expansive relationship between body and garment.
Also on the six-day programme are Brother Wolf by Pádraig Whelehn, Mná by Sarah Plunkett Chadwick, Aoife McNamara, Sasha Donnellan, Bold Golf and RASHHIIID. Established and emerging Irish labels will be showcased by the opening Irish Roots show at St Helen’s, while the RDS hosts the graduate show, Damhsa, with more than 40 designers. A further 30 designers will be presented by The Irish Edit showroom at 1 Windmill Quarter.
Attendance this year is expected from more than 20 international publications, plus leading creatives, journalists and models, among them international model Coco Rocha. Competing at an Irish dance feis, Rocha was discovered at 14 and has gone on to walk for fashion houses such as Dior, Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Community, contrast and celebration form the foundations of Coming Home, the IFW 2026 campaign created by Artistic Director David Allen. Roundstone’s people and working culture run through the whole story, while an Ireland that treasures its heritage without ever standing still is embodied by the cast.
Foxe, the campaign’s photographer, was born in Dublin and now lives in London, producing work for international editions of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, and formerly holding the role of Fashion Director at the Financial Times’ HTSI. Coming back to Ireland for this project, he unites a world-class fashion eye with a deeply personal grasp of the country’s visual identity.
Looks were chosen by stylist Brian Conway from designers participating in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, Paul Costelloe, Sasha Donnellan, Triona, Magee 1866, Louis Copeland, Jack Murphy and Alacoque Daly among them. The Dylan Bradshaw team created hair using L’Oréal Professionnel, while Lan Nguyen-Grealis led makeup using SOSU Cosmetics.
Title sponsor once again for 2026 is Visa, backing Irish designers and creative entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses, take on digital commerce and find new audiences. Support also comes to Ireland Fashion Week from Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council, and that backing will matter greatly to this year’s programme.
Coming Home celebrates the Irish landscape while also setting out an intent for Ireland Fashion Week: the scale, confidence and production values afforded any major international fashion capital are what Irish creativity deserves.
Ireland Fashion Week reveals its 7 to 12 October 2026 programme
Wednesday, 7 October: Slane Castle hosts the Opening Ceremony
An evening ceremony and dinner at Slane Castle in Co. Meath opens Ireland Fashion Week, back for a second year with Marks & Spencers to pay tribute to the designers and creators at the core of Ireland’s fashion industry and to set the tone for the six-day programme.
Through the theme Coming Home: An Island in Motion, M&S and Ireland Fashion Week are linking Ireland’s global creative impact to a world-class fashion ecosystem at home. Alongside strategic partners, they are helping the local creative community shape where the industry goes next.
With M&S celebrating 100 years in fashion, the evening will recognise how the brand has shaped the Irish market and nurtured some of the country’s most prominent fashion leaders, from Ireland to London and further afield.
A shared dedication to creativity and craftsmanship is at the heart of the opening ceremony, where Irish chef Mark Moriarty takes charge of the culinary direction and Corina Gaffey handles creative styling.
Thursday, 8 October: Sportswear and Irish Roots
St Helens Hotel in Booterstown, Dublin, hosts the Irish Roots Show to start Thursday’s programme. The Bold Golf Sportswear Show follows that evening at The Exo Building in Dublin’s Docklands.
Friday, 9 October: Sinéad O’Dwyer and The Irish Edit
Hosting The Irish Edit Showroom is 1WML on Windmill Lane, Dublin 2. Dublin City Hall is the setting that evening for Sinéad O’Dwyer’s show.
Saturday, 10 October: Streetwear, showcases and graduates
The Damhsa Graduate Show at the RDS Concert Hall opens Saturday, putting emerging talent right at the centre of the programme.
Next comes the Rashhiiid Showcase at the Gerard Byrne Gallery on Trinity Street, with The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College Dublin staging the Brother Wolf Streetwear Show that evening.
Sunday, 11 October: MNÁ, conversations and contemporary fashion
Dion Rooftop Restaurant, One Central Plaza, on Dame Street opens Sunday with the Sasha Donnellan Contemporary Show.
A programme of panel discussions will run all day as Visa Presents: Ireland Fashion Week Talks arrives at Medley, in the Old Irish Times Building in Dublin city centre.
Closing the day is the MNÁ Fashion Show at The Stapleton in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.
Monday, 12 October: Mount Juliet and modern heritage
Co. Kilkenny brings the week to a close, with the Aoife McNamara Modern Heritage Show at Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown.
Spanning graduate collections through to established designer shows, the 2026 programme from Ireland Fashion Week invites audiences to experience the full breadth of Irish fashion and to find the designers and creatives shaping what comes next.
For more on Ireland Fashion Week 2026, visit https://irelandfashionweek.substack.com/